An Old Friend

November 6th, Year 435.

Just like that, five years passed by in a blur. I had somewhat adapted to my small body and was finally able to walk as well as speak and read with my new, underdeveloped eyes. As soon as my body was strong enough, I began to refine it with the mana in the atmosphere, making it much stronger than normal as well as making it resistant to magic to some degree. Not many people knew about this in my first life, and I now had an even bigger head start than before.

After realizing my apparent talent, my father personally taught me swordsmanship while my mother taught me how to utilize my magic in ways I never thought possible. All though my father was able to manipulate many more elements than her, my mother had more control over hers than my father did his. Under their tutelage, my techniques I had perfected before now felt like I was comparing a rusty blade to an artifact.

I awakened my Wind element relatively quickly, and I even gained more elements, which was weird considering I only had one in my previous life. I now had Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Earth elements running rampant in my body, waiting to be refined and molded into deadly weapons. For the past year I have been relentlessly refining my elements until they had taken the shape of a perfect sphere.

In actuality, anyone could awaken multiple elements, but you had to understand them and have a decent amount of practical knowledge about the element, or elements, you were trying to awaken. It would've been difficult if not for my previous knowledge and firsthand experiences with every kind of element known to Humanity. My third birthday was today, and I was a bouncing ball of joy.

The first time I met my life-long friend, Orreth, was when my father brought me to my very first party for Nobles. That was when I was three years old. If I was remembering correctly, it would be a few short days from today, which was why I was so ecstatic. The images of my friends mutilated bodies still hung in my mind, making it hard for me to get a good nights sleep. I was more determined than ever to grow as strong as possible.

I needed to prevent the civil wars from breaking out across the world, and that meant preventing my little brother from going on a rampage. Speaking of Amon, my mother was in the late stages of her pregnancy, making me happy yet fearful at the same time. I knew why he went mad with revenge and wanted power, and I had a plan to stop him from going down that very path, however, I had no idea if it would work.

I shook my head to clear it of my doubts before moving over toward my patiently waiting father. He was wearing a long black robe with a golden rope tying the robe shut around his waist. He had his wild white hair up in a ponytail while his large smile showed off his dimples. He put his hand on my shoulder and said "My boy, you are the Crown Prince, but you must not neglect your duties to your family and people."

We walked into a large clothing shop and my father walked into the back with me to get a suit fitted to my small body. "You have a brother coming along, and you will be tasked with teaching him basic etiquette and combat. Only when he passes your supervision may he receive lessons from myself and your mother." Hearing those words made my face scrunch together in disagreement as I turned my head back toward my father.

"I believe you should be the one teaching him, not me. It's only natural for a son to want to spend time with his father. I fear that, if I do what you asked, he will soon grow to resent you for not paying him attention, and to resent me for spending time with you because I'm the Crowned Prince..." Seeing my fathers jaw hanging down with his brows raised made me think I went a little too far...

"That...That is indeed a sound argument. How about this. We take turns doing teaching the young one what we know; that way he will not grow to resent either of us for not spending time with him. I'll make sure to adjust my schedule after the party." I smiled thankfully as the tailor took my measures and handed me a small suit to put on. I accepted it graciously and put it on with ease, surprising my father and the tailor.

Sadly, however, I still had limited coordination with my new body, making me fumble with the tie and forcing my father to help me out, much to my chagrin. "There! Lookin handsome little man!" My father ruffled my hair as he pulled a large sum of gold out from his dimensional rings before handing it over to the tailor. We walked out of the shop after my father requested a few changes to be made to the suit and I climbed atop his shoulders.

The streets of Astral were bustling with all kinds of people. Many different stalls were set up along the streets with merchants trying to entice the civilians with their wares. Some of the products were of good quality, but mostly overpriced. Hell, some of these trinkets and weapons were of worse quality than some of the things I used to make. "See anything you like? If so, let me know so I can teach you how to make it, but better!" My father said when he noticed my gaze lingering on a familiar amulet with a bright emerald in its silver center

"Father, do you hear that?" I asked as my brows furrowed in confusion. A strange...whisper was echoing through the air, reverberating back toward where the amulet was sitting on the wooden counter. He cocked his brow up and said "No, I only hear the sounds of people chattering on the streets. Why, do you hear something?" I nodded my head unconsciously and pointed over in the direction of the stall, causing my father to walk toward it.

The whispers got louder and louder as we drew near to the amulet. It soon became unbearably loud and I winced in pain, but it would take more than a few loud whispers to make me give in. I got off of my father's shoulders and walked up toward the counter. There was an old man with weathered skin, thin gray hair, and bright brown eyes. The man's eyes changed from brown to red in an instant, but it was too fast for me to notice as his eyes returned to their normal color.

A smile made its way to his face as my eyes stayed fixated on the amulet; my hand reaching out to grab it without noticing. Suddenly, a strong hand landed on my shoulder as my father placed another bag of coins on the counter, grabbed the amulet, and ushered me toward our castle. Every time I tried to speak, he hushed me with a panicked look on his face as he constantly glanced over his shoulder.

"D-Dad...what's wrong..." I asked, but my father quickly picked me up and teleported next to the castle before rushing through the gates and activating multiple barriers and formations around the perimeter. He rushed inside of the castle doors and sped upstairs to his shared room with my mother, sweat dripping from his face. I prepared myself for the worst and circulated mana through my body, ready for a fight if the need arises.

We burst through the doors and the sounds of a baby crying echoed through the room and out into the hallway, causing my father to curse under his breath and sigh in relief. I halted my flow of mana and thought about cursing my father out for giving me such a scare, but I knew he was just a big oaf that acted before thinking. We moved over to the side of the large bed where my mother was laying; her skin pale and drenched in sweat.

A small child with equally pale skin and a thin body was crying in her arms, flooding my mind with images and scenes of my childhood with Amon. While my parents were exchanging words and trying to decide on what to call him, I stared into Amon's violet eyes and said "Amon. We'll name him Amon." My father looked down at me and started to say "Astaroth, that is for us to decid-" but my mother cut him off and responded instead.

"That is a lovely name dear! We shall call him Amon!" My father sighed before letting a large smile spread across his face as he motioned for me to pick Amon up. I went to move over toward him, but scenes of him killing my friends flashed across the surface of my mind, making me hesitate. 'No...he's different now...I can...I can save him! I can't hesitate or else things will end up the same...'

I picked Amon up and noticed that his eyes flashed with an unknown emotion before they returned to a normal, curious gaze. I stood there with Amon in my arms, tears flowing from my eyes unknowingly. My father bent down and put a hand on my shoulder with a concerned look in his eyes, but a fatherly smile on his face as he asked "Son, what's wrong? Are you happy that you have a little brother now?"

I nodded my head as I gently pulled Amon into my embrace, a torrent of regret and grief flowing into my broken and cracked heart. I quickly stopped the waterworks and apologized for my sudden outburst before reluctantly handing Amon over to my father. After doting on Amon for a bit longer, I returned to my room and immediately went to my desk to continue studying the different types of elements that I was weak in or haven't unlocked yet.

So far, I had the Fire, Water, Darkness, Wind, Earth, Light, Nature, and Gravity elements under my control with the Poison, Ice, Dark Fire, Sound, Magma, Metal, Wood, Smoke, Mist, Blood, and Chaos elements still a complete failure. If I tried to use any of those eleven it would backfire and severely injure my body, forcing me to heal myself with the Light magic.

(A/N: Magic is created by using the elements and mixing them with your mana, creating a spell. And yes, I know I used Siora's maiden name and gave it to Astaroth ;))

I had a book about the element of Ice spread out across my desk and I began to read through the description of the element, as well as a list of places where I could meditate in order to gain a better understanding of the element in its natural form. I crossed my legs in my chair and folded my hands together with my palms facing upwards, my fingers interlocked while my thumbs barely touched each other.

Before I knew it, the sun had risen and the birds had come alive, signaling that it was time for me to shower and get ready for the party later today. I hastily washed my body off and got dressed in a plain black shirt and black pants before moving toward my door. My hand touched the doorknob and I heard a loud voice come from downstairs.

"Get yer ass down here Aalreth! I heard ye got a few rascals, and I brought me own over!"